Posted by Dinah on September 12, 2009, at 10:00:31
In reply to Re: T self disclosure and transference, posted by Garnet71 on September 12, 2009, at 6:43:29
I was truly shocked to discover that my therapist rarely made such elaborate plans. I had gone into therapy thinking that my therapist would know all sorts of Machiavellian tools of mind manipulation, and would structure our interactions to produce the effect he wanted.
But happily, and sadly, this was not so. I had to give up on the notion of an omnipotent, omniscient therapist in control of the situation, and settle for someone with professional training blundering ahead with me on a path that was uniquely mine, so that he can't possibly know where he's going any more than I can.
I'm guessing that your therapist is considering your extreme reaction to your last therapist, and that you consider the reason for that reaction to be his blank slate approach. So he might be self disclosing to a greater extent than normal.
But it is a good idea to keep an eye on it. As long as the self disclosure is for your benefit, and appropriate and to the point, I think a bit of self disclosure can be a good thing. If only to burst bubbles of transference to keep the pressure at the ideal, instead of allowing it to become overwhelming. Or at least that's my opinion. I'm sure others differ.
However, I've heard enough stories on Babble to think that some therapists are self disclosers by nature, and not all of them self disclose entirely for the patient's benefit.
I think a common theme of client responsibility is to be aware, and to trust the therapist but with some knowledge of what may or may not be appropriate.
poster:Dinah
thread:916433
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20090907/msgs/916645.html